Often Irreverent, Mostly Rational Blog for Fans of the Toronto Blue Jays. One Day, We'll Be Perfect.

Wednesday, September 28, 2011

September Call-up

Pictured: 2002 Blue Jays September Call-Up

Although apparently nobody knows for sure why they ever started doing it, it has always seemed inherently logical for major league rosters to expand in September. Over the first 130-plus games, injuries pile up and starters wear down. By the stretch run, veterans need breaks and prospects need major-league at bats.

And let’s face it: for most teams (and I’m not telling Blue Jays fans anything they don’t already know), September games aren’t “meaningful”. That doesn’t mean they aren’t still important – as important as any games in April through August – but they are also as good an opportunity as any to try something new with the roster.

Applying the concept metaphorically to this blog, you may have noticed a certain, let’s say, intermittency from your esteemed host Tao. I can’t say I blame him.

So I approached him, to see if he’d be interested in some organizational depth – a replacement-level blogger who can take some platoon blogging at-bats and spell the seasoned but fatigued veteran from time to time.

The above-linked post points out that Lou Gehrig was a September call-up in 1923 and 1924. I ain’t Lou Gehrig, not from September of 1923 or any other time. Maybe Willie Bloomquist of 2002? I come in with a bang in my first crack at the blogging bigs, and then level off into a competent journeyman? That would be pretty cool.

In any case, I’m hoping to make an occasional contribution, ideally with a fresh perspective on the Blue Jays and maybe on baseball in general. I’ve been following the team for many, many years. For the last four or five, I’ve gradually grown into a pretty devoted Blue Jays enthusiast, learning more with each passing day about the team from top to bottom. I’m not a guy who can walk you through advanced statistics or how they’re developed, but I appreciate others who do, because they’ve helped inform my own thinking about the game.

I may not have paid my blogging dues, but I try to write as much as I can, professionally and just for shits and giggles too. I’ve taken my share of criticism, tried to learn from it, and tried to produce better writing as a result. If you like it, don’t like it, think it’s way off base, or pisses you off, let me have all of it in the comments. Consider it the September hazing. So zany!

On a personal note, I’d like to thank Tao for letting me in on this space. It’s among the best of a very strong group of Blue Jays-focused blogs, and I’m going to do my best to drive it into the ground in return for a massive cash payoff from Dustin Parkes at thescore.ca keep it that way.

Signed,

The Org Guy

PS. If you want to follow me on Twitter, you can do that too, but it's a nascent account. I'll have more to say there soon.